If your child is habitually unruly and you believe he or she is now beyond your control, you should consider surrendering him to one of Kenya’s designated Children Prisons/ juvenile detention centres.
For starters, these are the correctional facilities where children involved in crime (18 years and younger) are taken to undergo rehabilitation in an attempt to positively change them.
We’ve compiled a list of juvenile schools in Kenya to assist you get started if you’re considering about sending your child there to have their conduct straightened out before it’s too late.
Let’s get started:
Juvenile Remand Homes in Kenya
Before we get to the list of juvenile correctional centers in Kenya, here’s what you should know:
You do not have the right, as in many other countries, to willingly place your problematic child in any of these facilities–there is a juvenile court system process to be followed.
Let’s take a quick look at the steps you must take if you want to send your misbehaving child in one of Kenya’s juvenile detention centers:
Step 1: Witness the child having delinquent behavior.
A child cannot be brought to a juvenile home unless there is a witness to their persistently upsetting behavior.
In other words, for the juvenile justice system (JJS) to intervene, there must be an independent witness to the youngster participating in unlawful behavior.
Step 2: Recommendation
Anyone who witnesses the bad behavior–police, parents, instructors, child protection officials, and so on–should refer or arrest the victim and bring them before the Juvenile Court.
Except for the Nairobi Juvenile Court, which operates independently, these courts are not truly different from regular courts and hear juvenile matters on an as-needed basis.
In addition, juvenile courts must sit on different days/in a different building (or at a different time) than ordinary courts.
Keep in mind that, unlike adult court sessions, juvenile court proceedings are normally closed to the public.
Step 3: Adsorption/Diversion
The court will hold a preliminary hearing to hear the specific criminal case, after which they will decide whether the offending youngster should be fully prosecuted in a juvenile court.
Otherwise, the case can be dismissed or handled informally outside of the juvenile justice system.
4th Step: Transfer/Waiver
Serious offenders are prosecuted in juvenile court by police prosecutors, or as adults in criminal courts (those aged 15 and up).
Step 5: Detention
Those sent to criminal courts may be remanded in one of Kenya’s juvenile detention facilities (or one of the adult remand prisons) or permitted to stay free pending the outcome of the case.
Remember that depending on the severity of the allegations, the case could take anything from a few weeks to a few years.
In the end, the magistrate’s decision determines whether the young problematic person is committed to a juvenile home in Kenya.
The judge may also decide to send him/her to an approved school, such as Wamumu in Mwea (if he/she is 15 years old or younger), or to an adult prison (if he/she is extremely infamous and at least 14 years old).
Others are sent to borstal establishments (at least 15-year-old boys).
To be clear, Borstals – currently Shimolatewa and Shikusa – are located right close to adult prisons and are operated by the prison administration, therefore their environment is significantly harsher and punishing (compared to juvenile remand institutions).
With that out of the way, let’s move on to our list of juvenile jails in Kenya.
List of Juvenile Remand Homes in Kenya
Kisumu Remand Center
Location: Kisumu East, Kisumu town
Email: kisumuremand@yahoo.com
Phone: 0721852028
Manga Remand Center
Location: Along Motemomwamu-Manga road
Email: mangacrh@yahoo.com
Phone: 0720283926
Kiambu Remand Center
Location: Kirigiti, Ruiru-Kamiti road
Email: manager